My Cultural Heritage History

My cultural heritage history starts in a little town called Belsito, in the region of Calabria, located in Southern Italy. The year is 1929 and the fascists regime has ruled in Italy since 1922. My great grandfather and great grandmother on my mother’s side, Serafina and Vincent, are struggling to make ends meet. Serafina is a homemaker and Vincent works as an ironworker in the city of Cosenza. Unfortunately, taxes are being raised and the new government is becoming less attractive to Serafina and Vincent. Both have family members that have immigrated to the United States, which they know as “the Land of Opportunity.” In October of 1922, Serafina and Vincent decide to move to America with their three sons.
My great grandparents on my mother’s side moved to the United States from Calabria in 1922. Calabria is a region located South of Naples, better known for its location at the “toe” of the Italian peninsula. Calabria officially became part of Italy when the country was unified in 1861. Shortly after, the Italian government began to raise taxes and forbid people to use the land they depended on. When the Fascist regime took control in 1922, many people supported the regime, while others fled the country (Il Circolo Calabrese). My great grandparents chose to leave because they believed better opportunities existed for them in the United States, especially financial opportunities. Today, Calabria is known for its beautiful beaches and coastline, which has caused a steady increase in tourism over the years. Like my great grandparents, many of the people in Calabria worked the land or hand manual labor jobs in the biggest nearby city. When my great grandparents moved to the United States, they had relatives that had already moved to North America, to places such as Chicago and Philadelphia in the United States, and Toronto in Canada. When they arrived in the United States, they settled in a predominantly Italian section of Northeast Philadelphia where some of their relatives had immigrated to previously. Serafina and Vincent had three sons when they moved and then had one more son and two daughters, one of whom would be my grandmother, in Philadelphia. Serafina stayed at home with the children and did not pursue any type of work. Vincent became a full time postal worker and helped in his brother’s butcher shop. Neither my great grandmother or grandfather attended any type of schooling, nor did they learn English. They moved to a predominantly Italian neighborhood and never had to learn English or were presented with the opportunity to do so.
My great grandparents had six children. None of them attended school past the sixth grade and all of them worked in manual labor jobs or joined the military. Occupations they held included barber, butcher, stone mason, shoemaker, crop picker, factory worker, seamstress and sailor in the Navy. My grandmother’s main role in the family was to take care of her brothers, which included cooking, cleaning, laundry, and maintaining the house. She also worked as a seamstress in a factory during the Great Depression and helped in her brother’s barber shop. In 1951, she met and married my grandfather and in 1954, my mother was born. My grandfather was also from Calabria and moved to the United States in 1925. His parents both passed away shortly after his arrival. They, too, settled in Philadelphia. My mother was an only child, born and raised in Philadelphia. She was the first in her family to attend high school, graduate from college, and receive a Master’s degree.
My father’s grandparents lived in Naples, Italy. Like Calabria, Naples also became part of Italy in 1861 as part of the Italian unification. It is located in Southern Italy, along the Eastern coast. Although the people of Naples did not rebel against Italian fascism prior to World War II, they were the first to rise up against German military occupation during World War II. Naples is famously known as the traditional home of pizza, which is where it originated. Both of my great grandparents were from Naples, where they lived down the street from each other. They both moved to the United States in 1927 with their families. Their families also had relatives in the United States and thought they could better achieve financial security if they left Italy and moved to the United States. Both of my great grandparents moved to New York and left shortly after to reside permanently in Elizabeth, New Jersey. My father’s grandmother was a seamstress and his grandfather worked for Exxon. When they arrived in the United States, my great grandfather could not find work because of his status as an immigrant. In order to sound more “American,” he removed the last vowel from his last name. My grandmother was one of four children, one of whom became a politician in Elizabeth. My father’s great aunts and uncles were more educated and his mother and father were both highly educated. Many of his aunts and uncles, including his mother and father, graduated from high school and went on to college. While some of them did have blue collar jobs, most of them did go to school and received an education. My father’s family still resides in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Knowing and understand one’s own cultural heritage is an important aspect in defining and developing our identities. The culture that we were raised in forms a large part of our identities and influences who we are and who we become. By understanding our culture, we are able to form better understandings of ourselves. In the classroom, it is essential that we, as educators, understand the cultural history of our students. Not only can this knowledge help us to better understand our students, but we can also use this knowledge to create a curriculum that is culturally relevant and meaningful for the students.



Works Cited
Tarantin, Jack. Personal interview. 22 Nov. 2008.
Il Circolo Calabrese. 22 Nov. 2008. Retrieved from http://www.circolocalabrese.org/
Naples. 22 Nov. 2008. Retrieved from www.italyguides.it/us/napoli/naples.htm